Covey
Your family’s childcare, covered.
Date night Friday. Pickup every Thursday. The sitter who already knows bedtime. Covey turns that round of texts into one ask — post it once, and the grandparents, sitters, and close friends you already trust claim what they can cover.
By invitation from a family who already keeps a covey.
A small vocabulary
The words we use.
Covey borrows its names from the bird world. All seven are here, so nothing on this page needs a translation.
The people
- Keeper
- The parent or guardian coordinating care. Keepers post whistles and decide who is in the covey.
- Watcher
- Someone trusted to cover: a grandparent, a close friend, a sitter your kids already know.
- Chick
- A child in the household.
The tiers
- Covey
- Your inner tier, closest to the nest. The spare‑key people. Also the name of the app.
- Field
- The wider tier: sitters and helpers you would call next, once the covey is full.
The day to day
- Whistle
- One request for coverage. A day, a time, and which chick it is for.
- Perch
- Your home screen. This week at a glance: what is covered, and what is still open.
How it works
Three steps, then it just runs.
No accounts to chase, no schedule to maintain. You post what you need covered, and the people who already look after your kids answer.
Build your covey
Invite the people you already trust with your chicks. They join by invitation — never a stranger, never a marketplace.
Post a whistle
Need coverage for a slot? Send a whistle to your covey with the day, the time, and who it’s for.
Someone answers
The first to say yes covers it — and everyone who should know, knows. In the app, and on the calendar.
See it in action
The whole family, on one perch.
This week’s coverage, at a glance — what’s handled, and what’s still waiting for a yes.
Family
Covey
Field
Your week, and the covey that covers it.
9:00 AM
3:00 – 5:00 PM
8:00 – 9:00 AM
10:00 AM
2:00 – 5:00 PM
6:30 – 9:30 PM
The same whistles, on the calendar you already keep.
What’s inside
Everything a covey needs.
Nothing it doesn’t.
Covey does the one job a family group text can’t: turn “can anyone watch the kids?” into coverage you can count on.
Whistles, not group texts
Need a hand Thursday at 3? Post a whistle. Your covey sees it — no 6am text thread, no chasing replies.
Your covey, kept close
The small circle around your chicks — grandparents, a sitter, the neighbor with the spare key. Arranged the way your family actually works.
Everyone knows the moment it’s covered
When someone answers a whistle, both parents are told — push and email. No “did that get handled?” at bedtime.
On the calendar you already use
Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook — every commitment lands on the one you already keep. Connect Google once for instant updates; the others subscribe with a private link.
The details that matter, in one place
Allergies, bedtime, the things a grandparent shouldn’t have to text and ask. Kept with each child, visible only to your covey.
Private by design
Invitation only. Not a marketplace — everyone here already knows each other. Your children’s information is never sold and never shown to strangers.
Google Calendar sync
Covey uses Calendar access only for Covey-managed events.
Connecting Google Calendar is optional. Google’s permission can view and edit events, but Covey uses it only to create, update, and delete Covey-managed events on your primary calendar. Covey’s implementation does not request your other calendar events.
What Covey writes
- For a keeper: one event for each non-cancelled shift in their household
- For a caregiver: one event while a shift is claimed by them
- Updates that event when the shift details change
- Removes it when the shift is cancelled or no longer applies to that person
What Covey never does
- Send requests to read, list, or open calendar events
- Create, delete, or share calendars
- Change who your calendars are shared with
- Sell your data or show it to anyone outside your covey
Staying in control
- Disconnect at any time in Covey’s Settings
- On a completed disconnect, Covey removes its linked events while Google access remains usable
- If access was already revoked, Covey cannot remove those events for you
- Revoke access any time from your Google Account
- Prefer no sign-in? Subscribe with a private calendar link instead
Covey requests the Google Calendar events permission because it must create, update, and delete the events it owns. That permission also permits viewing events, but Covey does not use that capability. Covey requests no access to Gmail, Drive, Contacts, or any other Google service.
Why Covey
Covey is a private coordination app for families who rely on a small, trusted circle — grandparents, close friends, the neighbor with the spare key — to keep life running. It’s not a marketplace. Everyone here already knows each other.
The small, watching circle around your chicksPut the circle back.
Covey is invitation only. If a family you know keeps one, ask them to bring you in.
Open Covey